BLCA c45s01
Text The last pockets of resistance around Equestria folded numbly when they received word that Applejack had been executed. Officially, it was announced that she and Rainbow Dash had been sentenced to death, and it had been carried out after a short holding period where they had been given a chance to show compassion for their treason, but failed to do so. The rumors spoke of a far-more-grisly fate. New Equestria and the Children of Equestria both faded slowly from existence with nopony to stand up as their leader, and whatever hints of martyrdom might have come from the deaths of Rainbow Dash and Applejack had been lost when Scrivener Blooms and Luna had held a double-funeral for the two at Ponyville, with Celestia presiding. Ponies had gathered silently to take place, and a demon standing next to Pinkamena in a skull-like mask had cried a little as the vestiges of Nidhogg's emotions had risen up... yet all the same, it had been more like he was shedding the last of his old life instead of the old Rainbow Dash rising to the surface. All of the remainder of Ponyville, a few soldiers, and old friends had all turned up for the funeral, yet it had been oddly withdrawn, tense. Even Apple Bloom and Big Macintosh had been silent, not showing much emotion as their sister's closed casket was lowered into the ground. The stallion – his coat now ivory, his powerful frame further toned and his wingspan enormous, a horn standing up through rough-cut locks of a mane that was golden blonde now instead of hay-colored – had only bowed his head, and Apple Bloom sighed and shook her own as she sat with Scarlet Sage, whispering: "I'm sorry, big sister. I'm sorry it all turned out like this. But it's better this way... you got... real sick." Twilight Shadow had tossed a bouquet of roses into the grave, smiling faintly: they were dug into a hilltop and marked clearly by heavy tombstones carved with their cutie marks, Twilight murmuring: "We're all friends in death, Applejack. There's no more hate between us. And one day, we'll be buried beside you." It wasn't long, nor complex. Goodbyes were said to both, only a few ponies privy to the fact that Rainbow's coffin was empty, that the black-armored demon guardian Nidhogg had once been the Pegasus. Afterward, he'd wanted to linger a little, and Pinkamena had agreed to look after him, and Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Twilight had stayed as well. They all looked silently at the graves as workers loitered in the distance, giving them privacy for the moment. They had once been six friends, six close, perfect friends, but that had broken. And now here they were, at the end of that break: two demons, a pony, a so-called angel, and a Lich standing around the grave of the earth pony who had been a hero to the nation. Then Twilight smiled tiredly, shaking her head slowly before she looked at the others and said quietly: "Even after... we all started... drifting... I never imagined this. Never thought of what this would be like..." "Big Mac and Apple Bloom left early; I think that's what shocked me most." Fluttershy said softly, shaking her head slowly before she looked silently down into Applejack's grave. "But I can't blame them at all, either. I don't think it's that we never knew this would happen, especially after what we survived, Twilight... I think it's that... we never expected Applejack to go so far. What Luna and Scrivener did to her... to you as well, Rainbow... it was awful. I feel sorry for her, I do. And yet part of me, a very... very angry, very upset part of me... sometimes thinks... awful things still." "I know. I know." Nidhogg whispered, shaking his head slowly beneath the masking bone helm that hid his face. His ragged rainbow mane spilled out from beneath it, but the colors had all darkened and become dismal and bleak, his tail faded in the same way. "But Applejack is dead now. Rainbow Dash is dead. Master Scrivener says that in death, you forgive them. At least as long as they don't come back to haunt you." Pinkie Pie smiled faintly, looking silently across at Nidhogg, but she didn't speak as Pinkamena lowered her head forwards before the female demon said quietly: "Let's go back to Enstasis. It's about time for you to eat, anyway, you big idiot." "Alright, Pinkamena." Nidhogg nodded, and the demons glanced at each other before turning and falling into step, Pinkie Pie lingering a moment longer before she fell into pace after them. Fluttershy and Twilight smiled faintly at each other, but the Pegasus left quietly as well, and the Lich sighed softly as she stood for a moment alone in the silent afternoon sun, wishing for a moment that it could have been different. That Applejack could have been made to see. As time moved on, a new normal settled in around Enstasis: Scrivener Blooms and Luna worked out a schedule of tasks and visits they could begin to make around their nation, to make their presence clearly known and show they held an acute interest in the welfare of their people. Celestia and Twilight Shadow shared in handling many of the tasks and in working on policies and laws, but their first duty was always to the comfort of the King and Queen of the Night. Discombobulation lingered around Enstasis, often looking nervous, holding long and strange conversations as he rubbed at the invisible binding around his arm. He was unhappy and yet sickeningly-fascinated all at once with the way things were ever-growing, although the looming darkness scared him. Much of his time was spent with Twilight Shadow, however, working in many ways as an assistant to her: it was ironic that he only ever seemed to lapse back into his old self during these periods of serving her. Nidhogg was made a concubinus and bodyguard to Luna and Scrivener, although he was treated almost as much like a pet as Mephistopheles. He was glad to submit to the whims of the two, including their dark desire to experiment on him further. The two transformed him over several weeks into a full demon; his emblem faded from his haunch, his coat became a blue-black, and his tail and mane transformed into flickering, multicolored fire of dark red, purple, sapphire and obsidian. He still had the same eyes, however... eyes that sometimes filled with memories of his past, or moments of sadness as a whisper of his old self passed through his mind. Apple Bloom and Scarlet Sage were growing up fast, almost always together, protected often by Greater Nightmares or the Moon Blessed. They seemed to be getting larger and sleeker by the day, their teeth sharp, their coats pallid but solid, something about their shape subtly different from the average pony. Luna and Celestia both worked to train them in combat, and Luna in particular was delighted to find that while Apple Bloom didn't have magic, she was fast, strong, and agile, and the starry-maned winged unicorn had confidence that she would one day be an even greater warrior than her older sister had once been. Scarlet Sage, meanwhile, had healed almost completely: her wings were healed, although they had a strange, rubbery texture to them, like they were scaled instead of feathered. She was a strong enough flier to carry Apple Bloom on her back, however, and it wasn't an entirely rare sight to see the two shooting through the air outside Enstasis, the Moon Blessed struggling to keep up after them, Cowlick shouting vulgarities at them and Ross wincing as his shiny metal prosthetic limb glinted and dragged awkwardly through the air. They were a happy couple, a beautiful shining light that Luna and Scrivener both admired in the darkness of Enstasis, the new Princess of the Night and her beloved. And as they were growing up, they were taking a more-active role around the Castle, even though Scrivener and Luna did their best to keep many of their dark pleasures and dark experiments to themselves. Yet Scarlet accepted, loved, adored her mother and father still, looking up at them with that same childlike awe she always had even now as she grew up... and it filled her parents with adoration and a need to protect the young mare even as they hesitantly allowed her to know more and more of their secrets, to participate more actively in the plans and designs of Enstasis. And Scarlet Sage's Blood Seer abilities made her a powerful ally to have, especially working alongside them in the darkness: for example, with Luna and Twilight Shadow both helping her, she had been able to use her abilities to extract blood from a demon that fed off life force and bind it into a wight. Luna wanted to create an undead servant she could control that would be strong, intelligent and nearly-indestructible: at the moment, while many of their undead were difficult to kill, few were intelligent and many of them were only interested in eating the living or shambling mindlessly around in their territory. So far, her wights were the most useful, but they were frail and easily destroyed by conventional means: Luna wanted something stronger, and thus had begun experimenting on them to find out if she could make them better. Scarlet Sage didn't question her mother, only nodding seriously, and Luna had been both surprised and gladdened. When she had finally asked why the Blood Seer had been so eager to help, Scarlet Sage had smiled and replied quietly: "Because I know you use darkness for good... that even these scary things, you have a reason behind. That you're not scared of anything, and that if we'd had an army before... everything that happened with New Equestria could have been stopped before it got so awful. I know you're doing this to protect us." She still saw her with such fervent love and adoration, and it warmed Luna's heart, because it was true: she wanted these undead to protect the nation. Sure, part of it was simple interest, but there was still the threat of dragons to contend with, among other things, and even if the pockets of resistance to her regime were gone for now, they wouldn't be forever. She wanted to evolve their forces before she found another rebellion on her hooves... and admittedly looked forwards to the day when she wouldn't have to put up with the sight of ugly ghouls and zombies making up the larger part of her forces. They eventually achieved the result that Luna wanted... in fact, they achieved better. They created something intelligent, that could go days, weeks without needing sustenance and hibernate for even longer periods of time than that, that could be ripped into and would heal over time, that could see in the dark and moved fast and silently and had the strength of creatures twice its size with a chilling touch that drained the life of its victims. It bore a vulnerability to silver, and could be killed by complete dismemberment or burning, and shunned daylight... but far outweighing these vulnerabilities, it could drain the blood of a victim until it reached the point of death... and then spread its own blood into them, and transform them within the passage of a night into one of its own. And best of all, they were loyal. Created from the blood of demons already sworn to Luna that had been enhanced and twisted by Scarlet Sage and infused into wights who had promised their fealty, they had a natural bond to her that allowed her and Scrivener to order them to do what they pleased. A bond that was passed on from creature-to-creature as more of their kind, these newly-minted Nosferatu, were created. Vampires; powerful, loyal, deadly. A welcome addition to Luna's night. The months of working on creating the Nosferatu concluded the last large experiment Luna and Scrivener held before they had to leave on the first of their diplomatic missions and visits, however. And for months, Scrivy and Luna began to travel back and forth across Equestria, guarded by Nidhogg and Pinkamena, with Twilight Shadow and Celestia occasionally making trips out to spend time with the two when they could make the journey and their presence wasn't needed around Enstasis. They visited the baronies to speak with the barons and baronesses and discuss trading, territory, and other matters; they visited cities to give speeches, better meet their people, and in a few cases simply indulge. They stopped in at small villages to relax, and met with important figures and unimportant, everyday ponies, the King and Queen of the Night taking more enjoyment in spending time with their average subjects than they did with fawning sycophants. And even though often they were met with fear, the two enjoyed the feeling of power it gave them almost as much as it pleased them when ponies treated them with respect and kindness. Just as much, they enjoyed when ponies attempted to earn their favor and their interest by giving them tribute or showing off their skills, but they were usually sent away disappointed. Every now and then, however, a certain pretty mare or handsome stallion would vanish while Luna and Scrivener were in the area... sometimes to come back traumatized and crying, other times appearing elated and excited to pack their things, then be seen later vanishing into the night escorted by some servant of Luna's, or often best and worst of all, to simply never be seen again, leaving only a few creatures of darkness to know their fate. Luna and Scrivener made several things clear as these visits went on: if they were respected – or feared – and treated with dignity, they would be kind, even compassionate, and helpful to the people. If they were treated rudely, bad things often happened to those ponies who dared to defy them. But most important of all, the King and Queen of the Night protected and loved their people, but also always, always took what they desired, and there was no pony who could stop them. And slowly, Equestria was entering into a new mindset, the mindset of a traumatized country: that it was perfectly acceptable for these rulers of darkness to do as they pleased, because in return they protected, cherished, and adored their people. That the occasional sacrifice – and often it was either willing or somepony who wouldn't be missed anyway, who was a nuisance or a problem and Scrivener and Luna saw themselves as doing everyone a favor by removing said problem – was a small price to pay for what they were being given in return. Some ponies knew it was wrong, even spoke up about it: those who were civil, however, Luna and Scrivener would actually encourage, sometimes eagerly debating them, not hiding or ashamed of the fact they followed their desires... even though both were always careful to use particular words like 'taken,' 'volunteer,' and 'pleasure.' They were open and both had learned the art of dialogue well... although when ponies began to get rude, accusatory, or bring up certain facts – such as when a flayed-apart body that had been found in a ditch outside a town Luna and Scrivener had recently left, covered in claw and jaw marks that matched no wild animal in the area – the two would slowly begin to lose their pleasantness and would eventually abandon the conversation. And then the pony that had been foolish enough to challenge the two publicly, thinking that made them safe, was often found the next morning dead: usually by apparent suicide, although it was always with an expression of utter horror on their face. With Enstasis growing stronger every day, even with the fact ponies across the nation had witnessed that Luna and Scrivener could be hurt, their gleaming black temple-castle could be taken down, few ponies were willing to stand up to the two or denounce them. Especially because of something Applejack had never considered: what the visible cost of doing so was. They could be attacked, even injured... but an entire army had been annihilated in the process, the survivors brutally hunted down, the heroes that had led the charge slaughtered. Precious few ponies were willing to risk paying that cost. And that meant Luna and Scrivener would rule, and likely continue to rule until either a new hero rose up, they grew bored and passed their power on... or the two consumed the nation entirely in their darkness and their greed for more power, more pleasure, and more control over the ever-lengthening nights and days. Top ↑ Category:Transcript Category:Story